The Prodigy Slave, Book Two: The Old World: (Revised Edition 2020)

by Londyn Skye

  “But this…”

  “I’m beggin’ you to just leave me alone! I just wanna be numb to you again!”

  “But Lily I don’t want that. I want…”

  “I! I! I! Do you hear yo’self? It’s always all about what James wants, isn’t it?”

  “It’s not about me, Lily, it’s about…”

  “I’m sorry…” She threw her hands on her hips. “But you’ll have to forgive me for havin’ a hard time believin’ anything you say anymore,” she said, her tone oozing disgust.

  James grabbed her arm again when she began to walk away. “Lily, please just gimme a chance to explain!”

  “Do you enjoy this?!”

  “Enjoy what?”

  “Buildin’ me up! Doin’ and sayin’ all you can to make me lower my guard, so it’s easier for you to slap me as hard as you can across my face?”

  “Lily, no…” James paused. He was so pummeled by her words that he did not know what to say in return.

  “Please,” she whispered, tears brimming in her eyes again. “I’m beggin’ you.” She gently removed his hand from her arm. “Just let me go on back to bein’ numb,” she said softly.

  The way she sounded was a complete about-face from her previous fiery tone. He much preferred her hostility. Instead of fight in her voice, he heard the weakness of a woman who had completely given up. That fact scared him far worse, but he let her walk away this time without another word. He, in turn, walked into his room and found the letter he had written scattered in dozens of pieces all over the bed. The fact that it was in far more pieces than the previous ones Lily had destroyed further confirmed to him that she had sunk even deeper into her dark hole. Nothing affirmed that notion, though, more than the conversation Lily was about to have.

  Lily walked into the slave quarters and woke Corrina up without a single regret about doing so. Corrina stirred to consciousness, rubbed her eyes, and opened them to find Lily staring at her. “Lily, you all right?” she asked in a groggy voice.

  “I need your help,” she whispered.

  “With what?”

  Lily sat down, leaned against the wall, and drew her knees up to her chest. “I-I once heard you knew how to make an elixir.”

  The statement instantly cleared Corrina’s sleepy fog and she sat up. “What kind of elixir you talkin’ about?”

  “When I’s a kid, I ova’heard you tellin’ someone that yo’ otha’ masta’ and his friends was impregnatin’ slaves left and right at yo’ old plantation. You said you knew how to make an elixir to help ’em if they wanted it. Is that true?”

  Corrina got her eyes to focus and looked Lily up and down. “Lily, you’s with child?” she asked, shock evident in her tone. Lily had no typical signs of pregnancy. She was far thinner than she was before leaving the farm, and she had not once seen her have a bout with morning sickness. Corrina assumed the fact that she was sleeping a lot had to do with her melancholy state. The fact that she might be carrying a child never once crossed her mind.

  Lily refused to respond and looked away after Corrina questioned her about her condition.

  “You sho’ that’s what you want?” Corrina asked.

  “It is,” Lily answered without hesitating, still too embarrassed to look at her.

  “Then, yes, I can help.”

  “Good,” Lily replied, extreme relief evident in the solemn word.

  “Gimme two or three days…”

  “I don’t have two or three days!” Lily fired back, finally turning to look at Corrina.

  “Shhh!” Corrina was startled by her reaction. “Keep yo’ voice down. I need to rustle up the ingredients first,” she explained. “It’s certain plants and herbs I gotta find first. It ain’t that simple. And in the meantime, it’s laundry to be done, animals to be fed, and fields to…”

  “I’ll do all those things! Just tell me what needs to be done, and I’ll take care of it while you find what you need. I need this done and ova’ with by tomorrow night … no lata’!”

  The conviction in her tone was shocking to Corrina. “How far along is ya’?”

  “It doesn’t matta’! I just want this ova’ with. The soona’ the betta’.”

  Corrina stared at her like she was somebody she did not recognize before reluctantly giving Lily the answer she wanted to hear. “All right. Tomorrow night then.”

  “Thank you.” Lily got up and marched away and left Corrina there alone carrying the burden of resolving her “problem.”

  Corrina laid back down and James instantly came to mind. With all the tenderness she had seen James show Lily as of late, Corrina was convinced that the child Lily carried was his. She was even more convinced that James would never approve of what Lily was about to do to his unborn child.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Slave Code

  Article II Section XI

  Be it enacted that every master shall provide all slaves, including the sick and the elderly, with a competent diet, yearly health examinations, and adequate clothing and lodging. Owners refusing to abide by this code are to be fined for the first and second offenses. A third offense shall result in permanent forfeiture of slaves.

  February 1860

  “I hear congratulations is in orda’,” Gideon remarked. He smiled and pat James on the back as he stood at the office window.

  “For what?” James whipped his head around, wondering fearfully if he somehow knew about the baby.

  “Your engagement,” Gideon replied as if it should have been obvious.

  “Oh that.”

  “Oh that?” Gideon chuckled. “That’s hardly the reaction I’d expect from a man about to marry the woman he loves.”

  James pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sarcastic laugh while thinking about the preposterous notion that he, or any other man, could actually love Mary Jo.

  Gideon felt a little awkward after seeing his reaction. “Did I say somethin’ wrong?”

  James blew out a breath and went back to staring out the window that faced the bustling town square. He slid his hands into his pockets as he watched a few passing patrons. “I’m not marryin’ the woman I love, Gideon,” he admitted easily, feeling as though he could trust him with the vague information.

  “No?”

  “No.”

  “How’s such a tragedy struck ya’?”

  James snickered again. “I think you’d insist on draggin’ me to an asylum if I told ya’. The ins and outs of the details would seem nearly impossible for you to believe.”

  “Try me.”

  “Let’s just say that I completely unda’stand the frustrations you face socially in your relationship. I unda’stand it and empathize with it in more ways than you can eva’ imagine.”

  “How so?”

  “MJ and I just make sense as a couple. I have no doubt we’ll be a powa’house togetha’ in a town like this. But I neva’ wanted to be the sort ‘a man to marry for powa’ and money, the way my fatha’ wants me to. Maybe it sounds a little old fashioned, but I wanted to marry for love. The problem is, I’m in love with a woman that my fatha’, and most ‘a society, would neva’ accept me lovin’ … not eva’.”

  “Hmm. Reminds me of my motha’ actually. She was in a simila’ situation. She’d fallen in love with a poor boy that she went to school with, but her fatha’ didn’t allow just any boy to court any of his daughters. He handpicked a husband for each and every one of ’em. He chose the ones with money and education to ensure that his girls were well taken care of. He felt love could come lata’. And he was right. Bein’ forced to marry someone you hardly know or care about may not seem so ideal from the start, but my motha’ eventually did grow to love my fatha’, and we lived a great life. In fact, my parents stayed married until the day they passed away.”

  The idea that he could ever grow to love Mary Jo inwardly angered James and made him feel more of a need to rebel. He did not want to grow to love Mary Jo, grow old with her, or grow one day with her for that matter.
In his mind, what Gideon was suggesting for him to do was fail, to give up and accept mediocrity. James stood there staring out the window of his office questioning the sort of man he wanted to be: the coward who accepted the garbage that was laid at his feet, or a man who would be willing to climb a treacherous mountain to attain the life he dreamed of. He thought of William as he pondered that internal question. He remembered how inspired he was by the fact that William had rescued a family of slaves and married a Negro woman despite what the entire world thought about it. It made the choice of the sort of man that James wanted to be a very easy one.

  After quickly resolving that internal matter, James suddenly felt a deep pounding in his chest: a typical reaction whenever he saw Lily. Seeing Lily’s face instantly snapped him out of his window-gazing trance. He suddenly went from wondering what William would do in his situation to wondering what Lily was doing in the town square. He followed her with his eyes as she walked with her head lowered, holding onto a tote bag and an umbrella, neither of which were hers. The bag she held was Mary Jo’s, and the umbrella she held was hovered over Mary Jo’s head to shield her from the sun. James was so busy watching her that he did not hear the cowbell on the door clang. Mary Jo had stepped inside of Gideon’s clinic after demanding “Leela” to wait for her outside in the cold.

  “Afta’noon Dr. Whitfield!” Mary Jo greeted.

  “Hello Mary Jo! I heard the wonderful news. Congratulations!” Gideon replied.

  “Thank you! I’m so excited! I can’t wait! You’re definitely on our guest list. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?” Mary Jo replied just before kissing him. Lily could clearly see them through the window and turned her head the moment their lips touched.

  “Of course,” James acknowledged once Mary Jo removed her thin lips.

  “Well, I certainly look forward to bein’ there,” Gideon replied.

  “And we look forward to havin’ you and your lovely wife.”

  “Thank ya’ kindly. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do in the back,” Gideon explained. He then stepped into another room to give them some privacy.

  “What is Lily doin’ here?” James asked once Gideon was out of earshot.

  “I told yo’ daddy I could use a girl to help me while I’m shoppin’ and preparin’ for our engagement party. Sometimes it just gets to be too much on me to carry all my things by myself.”

  What damn engagement party?! Haven’t you humiliated me enough?! James wanted to scream. He wished he could yell at his father too. Jesse typically would have never, under any circumstances, just hand out one of his slaves so freely to anyone. It infuriated James to know that his father had completely abandoned his principles for Mary Jo, especially considering that it had now led Lily to be her “do girl.” As many servants as Mary Jo had, James knew full well that a hand-picked personal assistant from his father’s farm was the last thing she needed. He had no doubt that her actions were to further disgrace Lily. But, once again, James recited the looney-laws in his head and decided to create a delusional story of his own in retaliation. “Oh, I thought perhaps my fatha’ asked you to bring Lily for her examination?”

  “What examination?” Mary Jo sneered.

  “My fatha’s supposed to be usherin’ all the slaves up here one or two at a time for routine examinations. I thought perhaps he’d asked you to bring Lily since you were headed into town.”

  “He neva’ mentioned it to me.”

  “He probably didn’t wanna botha’ you with such matta’s, but I might as well take care of it anyway while she’s here.”

  “But I’s just on the way to pick up my cousin Julia from the train station.”

  “The station’s not far from here. I’ll have Lily ready to go by the time you get back … sweetheart,” James forced himself to add.

  “What sort of examination you needin’ to do?” Mary Jo questioned, suddenly throwing a hand on her hip. She was leery of his story despite his added endearment.

  “Just routine stuff. I gotta keep a record of everything.”

  Mary Jo still looked at him with doubt in her eyes.

  “Oh, come on MJ, Gideon’s here. You have nothin’ to worry about. These examinations are just part ‘a what I have to do whetha’ you like it or not. If code enforcement decides to do a sweep of our plantation, we’d be waste deep in shit. My fatha’ hasn’t been diligent about keepin’ things up to code. The slave quarta’s are in disrepair, all the slaves need winta’ clothes, and they haven’t had health examinations in years. You should know yourself the kind ‘a legal nightmares we’d have if I don’t get everything in orda’. And the last thing I’d wanna do is postpone our weddin’ tendin’ to all these petty matta’s lata’.”

  Mary Jo had no clue about what “keeping things up to code” meant. Her father handled all those matters. Tending to needs that were not her own was a foreign concept to her. The only thing that stood out in James’s statement was delaying her wedding day. The mere thought of such a thing had Mary Jo on the verge of turning into a strawberry-blonde demon, terrorizing all of Fayetteville like the worst natural disaster the sleepy little town had ever seen.

  To further push her to cooperate with his lie, James glanced out the window, saw that Lily was staring toward the road, and then took the moment to briefly kiss Mary Jo on the lips. “Mmm,” she sighed when their lips parted ways. She then stepped out of his embrace and pounded rudely on the glass window. James took the opportunity to wipe his mouth when her back was turned. “Leela!” Mary Jo waved at Lily to step inside. “I’ll be back for you within the hour,” she told Lily after she had walked inside.” She then turned to James. “Have her ready to go by then. Julia and I have lots of shoppin’ to do.”

  “I promise I won’t keep you two waitin’ then.”

  “Leela, what are you waitin’ on?” Mary Jo clapped her hands at her. “Get your filthy behind in the back,” she added, dismissively shooing her hand at her.

  “No, hold on a minute, Lily. Gideon’s still in the back.”

  Lily just stood there with her head down, trying her best to resist the urge to beat Mary Jo across the head with her own umbrella.

  Mary Jo turned her attention back to James after a brief awkward silence. “We still on for tonight, sweetheart?” she asked, stepping into his embrace again.

  The discomfort James felt immediately made him start to perspire. “Of course,” he forced himself to say.

  “I’ll see you lata’ then.” She kissed him again and smirked at Lily on her way out.

  After Mary Jo departed, James found it difficult to look in Lily’s direction. He was too disgusted with himself. Judging from Lily’s meek disposition, though, she did not seem to care at all about what had just happened in front of her. From how low her head was hanging, James figured she had likely seen nothing more than the shuffling of their feet anyway. When James finally gathered the courage to look at Lily, he was saddened by the way she just stood there with her hands clasped together, looking like a lonely lost puppy in need of love. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yessa’,” Lily replied, still looking at the floor.

  “Are you cold? You must be. It’s freezin’ outside.”

  “No sa’.”

  “Lily…” James stopped and blew out a frustrated breath. He wanted to correct her about using the term “sir” to refer to him again, but he realized she was right to do so; Gideon was still in the back room. “I wanna examine you while you’re here to make sure you and the baby are doin’ all right, okay?”

  This time Lily did not bother to reply.

  “Stay here a moment.” James wandered to the back where Gideon was restocking some supplies. “Gideon, I need the back room for a little while. One ‘a my fatha’s slaves has been ill. Do you mind if I examine her here?”

  “No, no, of course not.” Gideon stepped out into the waiting room and found Lily standing there. “Well, hello Lily!” He still remembered her from the many times he had visited the Adam
s farm to tend to James and his brothers.

  “Afta’noon, Dr. Whitfield,” she replied shyly.

  “You were just a little thing the last time I saw ya’ at Jesse’s house! Still shocks me how fast everybody seems to have grown up around here.”

  Lily just nodded. She was in no mood to conjure up small talk.

  “Well, I won’t hold ya’ up,” Gideon said after the awkward silence. “James’ll take good care of ya’, I’m sure.”

  “I sure will.” James then guided her toward the examination room and closed the door behind them after they entered. He turned around and said nothing at first. He wanted to use the opportunity to look at her without any interruptions from anyone. He stood there wishing she would hold her head up so that he could more easily see her beautiful face. He wanted so badly to touch her but felt that he did not deserve such an honor. Despite that fact, he approached her anyway. He reached his hand out to try to lift her head, but she quickly turned away before his fingers came anywhere near her. Though he felt she had every right to reject his affections, it hurt him none the less. He slid his hands into his pockets and took a step back. “Lily,” he whispered. “I know the last thing you want is for me to touch you, but I honestly do want to examine you. For the sake of our baby, would you let me do this?”

  Lily said nothing. She still had her head turned gazing into the distance at nothing. James hesitantly reached over and touched her shoulder to guide her over to a scale. She did not object.

  “I been settin’ extra food near your bed at night. Can you please try to eat it? You’re not just unda’weight for a pregnant woman, you’re unda’weight period,” James explained after she stepped off the scale. He then guided her to a chair to take her blood pressure. She silently obliged. He placed his stethoscope to her chest afterward and listened quietly as he moved it to different areas on her chest and back. Again, Lily did not stop him. Even though she was cooperating, James was feeling a pain in his stomach over the amount of effort she put in to avoid looking at him. Despite it, he forged forward with checking her vitals and jotting down his notes in the calmest, most professional manner he could muster. “Do you rememba’ the date of your last menstruation?” he asked, pretending as though he wanted to add it to his notes, when the truth was that he was dying to know how far along she was.